Okay…so I know I raved about the brown rice spaghetti noodles from Tinkyáda a couple entries back. But, now I was curious. And being the curious sort, I had to experiment a little with other pastas by this amazing company. And I was craving one of my mom’s famous recipes: her homemade baked macaroni and cheese.
So, while I trust Tinkyáda noodles to make me an excellent, gluten-free, and delicious spaghetti, I wasn’t sure how the product would fare first being cooked via the stove top and then being transferred to the oven to bake for half an hour. But, this is why God created trial-and-error. I’d either get an amazing macaroni dish…or cheesy goop. Neither of which would be bad, except I prefer my pasta in macaroni to hold up to the melted cheese that coats it.
I pulled out the family recipe and set to it. I bought Tinkyáda’s Brown Rice Elbow Noodles for the occasion. I set them in boiling water on the stove to cook for a bit while I began working on the white sauce. Now, this was tricky. Normally, flour is used for this. I happened to have gluten-free multi-purpose flour in my pantry, so I substituted that and it worked like a charm. Instead of regular milk, I substituted unsweetened almond milk. But, with that in mind, I grated up real (and local) sharp cheddar cheese for the actual dish.
The pasta was nearing the point I would normally remove normal pasta from to bake it. So, I drained it well, ran it under cold water as instructed by the bag, and then dumped half of it into my casserole dish. Next came the cheese, the salt, the pepper (I like to use a touch of red pepper for some zing!). Then the next layer. Then, pour the thickened white sauce over it and stir until cheese melts.
I was pleasantly surprised when the noodles held up to that alone. I had to stir for a while because I didn’t have enough sharp white cheddar and ended up adding Velveeta which didn’t melt as quickly. My noodles didn’t crumble or fall apart. They held their curved shape. So, with that done, into the oven it went, covered, for the first round of baking. I uncovered it for the next part, and when it came out…it looked perfect.
Scooping it out was easy. The noodles held. Even more surprising was the flavor. Once again, Tinkyáda created the perfect gluten-free noodle for one of my favorite dishes. Oh…I was pleased. I had to resist the urge to fill up my bowl again with more after I polished it off. Even with all the gooey cheese, the noodles were perfectly al dente, holding up not just to the initial cook on the stove, but the additional baking to finish off the dish. I liked it better than when I used to make it with whole wheat noodles. Perfect…bite-after-bite.
When it comes to gluten-free foods, you should stick with trusted brands. When it comes to pasta, I trust Tinkyáda to provide me with the perfect noodles for my dish. So far, they haven’t disappointed. Even if you don’t need to be on a gluten-free diet, I highly recommend these products. Look for them at your local super market. Try them. Enjoy them.
I am hooked.
The Celiathlete 